Flights between India, the United Kingdom and other destinations were disrupted after a technical outage at the UK’s National Air Traffic Services affected hundreds of services, leaving Indian passengers stranded for hours at airports including London Heathrow and Zurich on September 9, 2026.
The disruption affected more than 500 flights on Tuesday and about 258 flights at Heathrow on Wednesday, according to the report. Several other airports were also impacted as operations slowed following the outage.
Indian passengers travelling to London posted messages on social media describing long waits at airports. Six members of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s official delegation were also caught in the disruption while travelling through Zurich. The group missed two ceremonies they were scheduled to attend with Shinde.
One passenger, identified in the report as Madhu Kumar, said she had been waiting at Zurich Airport for an Air India flight to London from 11 pm IST until 5.45 pm on September 9, a delay of nearly 17 hours. She said airline staff provided snacks, water and bedrolls overnight, followed by breakfast and lunch coupons.
The disruption also left baggage and passengers at terminals for extended periods. Images from the airport showed travellers sleeping on terminal floors as airlines worked to manage the consequences of delayed and disrupted services.
Heathrow Airport said flights were operating on Wednesday but warned that some disruption could continue as airlines repositioned aircraft and crew. In a post on its official X account, the airport advised passengers to check their flight status before travelling and apologised to affected travellers. It also said additional staff had been deployed across terminals to assist passengers.
According to the report, NATS said the technical issues had been resolved by September 9, while operations across the UK gradually returned to normal. Flights affected by the outage were resuming journeys to their destinations, although the movement of aircraft and crew continued to affect services.
The episode highlighted how a failure in air-traffic management infrastructure can quickly affect international passengers, airline schedules, airport operations and official travel. Heathrow’s advice to check flight status before travelling remained the immediate guidance for passengers as airlines worked to restore normal operations.
